2008. get the The Technological Process On Oshore Drilling Platforms Explained Step By Step connect that we have enough money here and check out the link. Once positioned, the jackup can extend legs down to the sea floor. However, BP deviated from its planned procedures during the conversion. A turntable on the platform rotates the drill string and, at the other end, a drill bit grinds through the Earth. This prevents contaminants from entering the water supply. In the years that followed, petroleum companies moved even farther into the ocean. If pressurized oil and gas gush up the well, the BOP will seal the well with hydraulic valves and rams. Once oil companies have identified a possible undersea oil deposit, they have to obtain drilling rights. Why not construct a gigantic tower of concrete and steel and mount your oil rig on top? Since oceans cover nearly three-quarters of Earth's surface, a great deal of those reserves wind up underwater. This drilling process can take a long period of time, lasting anywhere from weeks to months. Tugboats tow the platform out to the site, where anchors hold it in place. to produce holes of two or more different diameters. Millions of years of heat and pressure eventually transformed this organic material into vast deposits of liquid, gas and solid petroleum, all capped in traps under thick layers of rock. Metal tubing with a 36" diameter, called casing, is forced 300-400 feet into the ground. As of the writing of this page the tallest skyscraper in the world is Burj Khalifa at 828 m, with the CN Tower in Canada (no longer on the top 10 list) at 342 m (from, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Mobile-offshore-drilling-unit.gif, http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/offshore-drilling.htm, http://www.cntower.ca/en-ca/plan-your-visit/attractions/glass-floor.html, https://energyeducation.ca/wiki/index.php?title=Offshore_drilling&oldid=4085. Directional Drilling The process begins by drilling to the bottom of a fresh water aquifer The drill is then retracted and pulls the loose rocks and sediment to the surface to be discarded (i.e., drilling muds). Drilling is a cutting process that uses a drill bit to cut a hole of circular cross-section in solid materials. This will serve as the main support system for the well. The food onboard also tends to be above average -- and available 24 hours a day. The drilling process itself occurs in phases. In an effort to sustain their fossil fuel dependency, humans have built some of the largest floating structures on Earth. This process is followed by drilling to deeper depths and by continuously adding lesser sized casings until the desired drilling depth is reached. Step 2 - Reading the Pacific Drilling: The Preferred Offshore Driller HBR Case Study. The drill bit is usually a rotary cutting tool, often multi-point. Once a show has occurred, drilling stops and geologists perform additional tests to make sure oil quality and quantity are sufficient to justify further action. Choose the drill size appropriate to the material being drilled and the tool being used. Place the lid on the retort cup; rotate the lid slowly. This thick, viscous fluid consists of clay, water, barite and a mixture of special chemicals. I look forward to reading more on here. By using sensitive magnetic survey equipment, a ship can pass over an area and map any magnetic anomalies that occur. While fossil fuels have only become the driving force behind human civilization in the last couple of centuries, oil and natural gas have been making their way back to the Earth's surface for millions of years. Even after its wells have run dry, offshore production platforms often find renewed life as a central hub for other nearby oil platforms. Once geologists have established the worth of a petroleum deposit, it's time to drill a production well and begin harvesting the riches. If what came up from the wells was pure petroleum, it would just be a matter of barreling it up at this point. After all, work on an oil rig continues day and night, with employees working rotating schedules of daytime and nighttime shifts. Running a drilling operation in the oil and gas business requires unique knowledge, and the ability to . The process of drilling for oil and natural gas underseas is much more challenging than drilling on land. Drilling for oil is a huge environmental concern. As regards its importance it is second only to the lathe machines.Holes were drilled by the Egyptians in 1200 B.C. Need to fix production facilities to a position above your drilling site? (Sept. 5, 2008)http://www.offshore-mag.com/display_article/286837/120/ARTCL/none/VESSL/Jackup-building-price-surges-on-strong-demand/, Kelly, David. Although most refinement occurs onshore, some companies use converted oil tankers to treat and store oil at sea. In the next section, we'll take a look at the various kinds of oil platforms in use today. These readings allow geologists to hunt for the telltale signs of underground traps. 2217 Earth and Engineering Sciences Building, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802 Offshore drilling Figure 1. Aug. 21, 2008. The drilling machine is one of the most important machines in a workshop. These objectives are frequently conflicting and interrelated. On the plus side, salary and benefits are usually pretty good, and employees typically enjoy long rest periods when they're not at sea. These rigs are typically used in areas with calm water. fluids or coolants. GlobalSecurity.org. Solid petroleum deposits often take the form of oil shale or tar sands. 2008. Contact Us, Privacy & Legal Statements | Copyright Information STEP-2 After the drilling site is found, the actual drilling process can begin. Compliant tower: These rigs take the basic idea of the fixed platform and make it viable to operate in depths of 1,500 feet to 3,000 feet (457 meters to 914 meters). Deep-sea waters reach nearly freezing temperatures, contain pressures great enough to crack iron casings and are subject to rough, deep-sea currents. When searching for fossil fuels at sea, oil geologists are able to use special sniffer equipment to detect traces of natural gas in seawater. Employees will work one or two weeks on the oil rig, then spend one or two weeks at home. Each phase of drilling creates a portion of the well with a smaller diameter, each portion lined with casing. ASTM International. To meet our ravenous demand for fossil fuels, petroleum companies constantly comb the planet for new reserves. This 36" casing is the backbone of the well creating a foundation for further drilling. June 18, 2002. To surmount these obstacles, petroleum companies have invested billions into the development of offshore drilling and offshore oil platforms. Required fields are marked *. Only in this case, the production facilities are elevated on stilts hundreds of feet above pontoonlike barges. Britannica Online Encyclopdia. Subsea system: This approach takes the idea of mounting the wellhead on the sea floor and applies it to even greater depths -- 7,000 feet (2,1334 meters) or more. This subject is discussed further in Chapter 2, "Types of Well Completions". An offshore drilling rig has to create the same working conditions as for onshore rigs which can move from one point to another without any difficulty. Most oil refinement takes place onshore, but oil companies sometimes use converted tanker ships to treat and store oil at sea. How Subsea Components Of ROV Sustain Tremendous Seawater Pressure. Offshore pipelines are a key part of offshore oil and natural gas production. "How Oil Drilling Works." You can download the paper by clicking the button above. By using our site, you agree to our collection of information through the use of cookies. This template is simply a large metal box with holes in it that is used to guide the drilling process and marks the site of each production well. Step 1: Inventory your current systems. are some of the hazards faced when drilling offshore. Critical Investigation: How and Why. If the drilling wasn't success . Divers then cut the well casing off below the surface of the ocean floor and seal it in with concrete. Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Kasthew Drilling Company Uganda Ltd normally offers a comprehensive service and maintenance scheme to their clients who include; schools, churches, village communities, NGOs, CBOs, religious funding organizations, farms, factories, individual homes, among other client from within Uganda so as to be sure the borehole is operating efficiently for a longer period. You've established your multimillion-dollar offshore drilling platform and, miles beneath you, there's a fortune in untapped petroleum deposits. Plan the Well: As we have discussed, exploration well prospects are generated by exploration geologists; while development wells locations and objectives are generated by development geologists. The College of Earth and Mineral Sciences is committed to making its websites accessible to all users, and welcomes comments or suggestions on access improvements. What is Drilling Offshore oil rigs have developed greatly over the past years, and have become gigantic structures that house hundreds of people at a time. A network of taut cables and lines trail out from the cylinder to secure it to the ocean floor in what is called a lateral catenary system. Offshore drilling primarily takes place under the control of the Department of the Interior ("DOI") which manages offshore drilling leases and develops . When first drilled, the pressure from the reservoir is enough to send fluids to the surface, but as this pressure declines pumps may be needed. The principle is the same as if you stuck a hollow cylinder into a birthday cake and then removed it. Since oceans cover almost 3/4ths of the Earth's surface, a large amount of the oil and natural gas reserves around the globe are located beneath water.[2]. Since the liquid that is brought up to the platform is a mixture of crude oil, natural gas, water, and sediments, some drilling platforms contain full production facilities to separate this mixture. Please copy/paste the following text to properly cite this HowStuffWorks.com article: Robert Lamb It may seem a bit odd to seal up the prize once you've finally reached it, but the goal isn't to just vent pressurized oil and gas up to the surface, but to control its flow. Outside the living quarters, life on an oil rig is a constant encounter with potentially deadly conditions. Kasujja Mathew of Kasthew Drilling Company Uganda Ltd East Africa takes us through a step-by-step guide of drilling and installing a complete borehole system in a developing country setting as follows; Phase One (1) A Hydro-Geological Survey / Basic Feasibility Study, Phase Two (2) - The Borehole Drilling and Casing, Phase Three (3) - Pump Testing Test-Pumping, Phase Four (4) Borehole-Water Quality Analysis / Test, Phase Five (5): Installation of Borehole pump, Water Supply Equipment and Controls, Phase Six (6) Pipe work and Trenching, Phase Seven (7) Additional Treatment and Phase Eight (8) Maintenance and Risk Assessments. The NORSOK standards are developed by the Norwegian petroleum industry as a part of the [2][3], Recently, offshore drilling has increased in popularity as a result of the large amount of oil and other petroleum products used worldwide each day. To drill without water flowing into the hole or having all the oil surge up into the ocean, a subsea drilling template is used. As a result, there is a lot of interaction and cooperation between agencies throughout the regulation process. "Oil Rig, 9 Miles Offshore, Is Home and Work Above the Sea." Drill ships: This is essentially an oceangoing vessel with, you guessed it, a drilling platform in the middle. To learn more, read Why is offshore drilling so controversial? World Petroleum Council. A jackup is a rig that sits on top of a floating barge. 4.1.1 Types of Drills. Lately, I have been reading about maritime stuff of free time. Following preparation and planning activities, Well Operations for Company's well in COUNTRY, will be conducted in the following phases: All of these phases and their associated activities shall be covered in one HSE plan for Well Operations in COUNTRY. This approach allows oil companies to reach depths of up to 6,000 feet (1,829 meters). The drill pipe is connected to the drill engine. In 1928, a Texan oilman unveiled the first mobile oil platform for drilling in wetlands. As a minimum, annual checks should be made to the pumping equipment, pipe work and any treatment equipment. The legs are just flexible enough to allow side-to-side motion, which helps absorb the stress of waves and wind. And how do you do all of this, with tons of special equipment, in the middle of rough seas? When close to the surface, certain rocks affect the Earth's normal magnetic field. It will then reroute the surging well fluids into specially designed containment systems. April 12, 2001. There are five varieties of mobile drilling platforms. The next step is to assemble the infrastructure needed to extract oil and gas from a depth of approximately a mile below the earth's surface. What happens once survey teams detect undersea oil deposits? In some cases, steam is sent down a well to heat the petroleum, increasing its pressure. The Technological Process On Offshore Drilling Platforms Explained Step By Step by Petrogav International Oil & Gas Training Center Then, the drill string is again removed so surface casing can be installed. An oil or gas well is drilled in a very ordered sequence. How do you tunnel into the Earth without water flowing into the hole or all the oil surging up into the sea? Other massive production facilities sit atop undersea towers that descend as far as 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) into the depths -- taller than the world's most ambitious skyscrapers. A drill is a rotary-end cutting tool with one or more cutting edges or lips and one. In effect, the crew sinks the rig into order to anchor it. When the lower hull fills with water, it sinks to a lower depth, providing stability while keeping the facilities high and dry. Automatically report on your equipment by running a report on your building automation system. 2008. However, instead of giant anchors holding it in place, the Sea Star is connected to the ocean floor by tension legs. Since then, the number of offshore wells increased dramatically in the US, until the number of wells in the Gulf of Mexico ONLY reached an increasable 3858 wells. (Sept. 2, 2008)http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9023145&contentId=7043392. But as this method can only help find seeping deposits, oil companies largely depend on two other means of locating traps. The weeks away from home can strain workers' home lives, as they spend half the year away from their family. Los Angeles Times. You'd then be able to examine the cylinder to discover what varying layers of icing and cake existed inside the cake. Drilling fluid is pumped down through the hollow drill pipe using Hale, Briony. or more straight or helical grooves or flutes for the passage of chips and cutting. Engineers have to design equipment that can stand up to the pressure, while also preventing boiling oil from hot, underground depths from cooling to a solid form and rupturing pipes when it emerges into the chilly ocean environment. For the next phase, a 12-inch (30-centimeter) drill bit digs the well even deeper. These long, hollow tubes remain rigid at all times, preventing any up-and-down motion on the platform. Pipelines built on the sea floor transport oil and gas from subsea wells to the platform and subsequently gas or oil from the platform to the coast for process and distribution. By The writer is a Projects Director Kasthew Drilling Company Uganda Ltd www.kasthewdrilling.co.ug Mob/Watsup +256781580278, +256704032414 Email: info@kasthewdrilling.co.ug, kasthew@gmail.com Colline House, Pilkington Road, Uganda Kampala East Africa. A filtration system on the platform filters the mud before sending it to the ocean floor again. In this respect, they're much like modern skyscrapers that are built to sway with the wind. On a very basic level, this serves the same purpose as the templates you might have used to trace a pattern or carve a jack-o-lantern design into a pumpkin. Install insulation. This is one method of finding out without cutting yourself a whole slice. Some people say money makes the world go round. Since drilling is the most expensive component of the entire exploration and field development process, the oil&gas industry pays a lot of attention to improve drilling efficiency and cut drilling time in order to control well costs. San Francisco Chronicle. The liquid that rises up to the platform is a mixture of crude oil, natural gas, water and sediments. Today's oil rigs are truly gigantic structures. As the first step to this well drilling . Use RigLogix to make informed strategic and commercial decisions about rig-contract negotiations, benchmark performance against peers and identify upcoming contract opportunities. They're much like tent poles in this respect. Once the well has been drilled, the final portion of casing known as the production casing is installed. Once the the job of temporary drilling units is over, permanent offshore gas/oil production structures or platforms are installed for carrying out further processes. You may also like to read How Subsea Components Of ROV Sustain Tremendous Seawater Pressure? Case Study - Artic Offshore Drilling - Page 1 of 2 Arctic Offshore Drilling Offshore oil and gas reserves, primarily along coastlines in Alaska, California, Louisiana, and Texas, account for a large proportion of the oil and gas supply in the United States. The production facilities sit atop a large submersible hull on a tower. Once the locations of the drilling sites are marked with this template, the drilling process can begin. Wipe off any excess mud and screw the retort sample cup into the upper retort chamber. (Aug. 28, 2008)http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/nov/22/oil, "Norwegian Billionaires' Oil-Rig Building Spree Raises Glut Risk." Complete rough plumbing, electrical and HVAC. Jack-up: This rig resembles a drilling barge, but with one exception. These systems act by sealing the well with hydraulic rams if pressurized petroleum pushes up the well, moving expelled fluids into containment systems to prevent pollution. Now it's time to get busy drinking that offshore milkshake. If so, they then drill additional wells to substantiate the findings. These platforms are extremely stable, despite the fact that the concrete base isn't even attached to the seafloor. good guide on how offshore drilling works. (Sept. 2, 2008)http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?1241105, Special Offer on Antivirus Software From HowStuffWorks and TotalAV Security. The steps in this sequence are almost universally applied to the drilling of all wells. Nov. 22, 2007. The BP Magazine. Unconventional O&G drilling then proceeds in two major phases: directional drilling and well stimulation. When this happens, petroleum companies plug and abandon the well. The other end of the cylinder descends around 700 feet (213 meters) into the ocean depths. Despite our culture's dependence on petroleum, not everyone's a huge fan of offshore oil drilling. BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling platform explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and spewing as much as 206 million gallons of oil. NORSOK (The competitive standing of the Norwegian offshore sector) is the industry initiative to add value, reduce cost and lead times and remove unnecessary activities in offshore field developments and operations. By adding water or gas to the reservoir, engineers are able to increase reservoir pressure, causing the petroleum to rise again. The risk assessment methodology is . Offshore Rig Basics. Some of these designs do away with the traditional concept of an oil platform altogether, while others elevate some of the designs from the last section to even grander proportions. Once the offshore drilling platform is built, some method of extracting the oil and gas from beneath the ocean and moving it to the surface without losing it must be developed. Note: Make sure some of the test sample is expelled through the vent hole on the lid. Others insist the key ingredient is love or even music. With the aid of computers, seismologists can then analyze the information to pinpoint possible traps in the Earth. HowStuffWorks.com. Once the drill hits petroleum, a final bit of casing called a production casing goes down to the bottom of the shaft. Oil and natural gas are brought to the surface from underground reservoirs through wells (Sept. 2, 2008)http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1357080/petroleum-production, "Petroleum Technologies Timeline." May 27, 2001. In some cases, however, portions of the oil rig remain and are slowly overtaken by sea life. The liner creates space for a pumping system and for the tubing . For more information about this issue, read Who owns the oceans? Drilling process and the completion closely related to each other, the completion starts when drilling bit makes contact with the productive reservoir. However, at depths greater than 1,500 feet, the design begins to become more impractical due to material costs. Construct rough framing. This decaying matter drifted to the bottom of the ocean and, over time, was covered with sand and mud. When it's time for these temporary platforms to move on, the really big rigs enter the picture. This equipment uses satellite information and sensors on the subsea drilling template to keep track of the drilling location. Explosives are sent below ground to crack this production casing at a variety of depths to allow oil and gas to enter the well in a controlled manner and move to the surface at a reasonable pressure. The steps in this sequence are almost universally applied to the drilling of all wells. There are definitely pros and cons to working on an offshore platform. Of course, oil geologists aren't hoping for ice cream. Abstract. Successful techniques. As technology improves and existing petroleum reserves wane, exploration will continue to dive into the subterranean depths. Sound travels at different speeds through different types of rock. offshore drilling process step by step Home; About; Services; Testimonials; Contact An auger is a drilling device, or a drill bit, that usually includes a rotating helical screw blade called a "flighting" to act as a screw conveyor to remove the drilled out material. Drilling at sea means a lot is at stake! 1990. I am also a merchant mariner for the SIU for about a year now. Although drilling mud helps to control the high pressure experienced when drilling, there is a significant risk of blowout. When not sailing, he loves backpacking, is an ardent adventurer and a certified diver. (Sept. 2, 2008)https://science.howstuffworks.com/oil-drilling. Earlier, there were lesser alternatives to conventional drilling in shallow waters. This animation is from Chesapeake Energy, and it discusses the drilling process for a Marcellus Shale well: Author: Gregory King, Professor of Practice, Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University. A drilling platform rests on top of the steel posts. This 36 casing is the backbone of the well creating a foundation for further drilling. You can send shock waves down to the ocean floor all day, but ultimately you're going to have to drill a little if you want to know if you have a potential gusher on your hands. 2004. The challenge in undersea drilling is transferring all that precious oil and gas from point A to point B without losing it and polluting the ocean. The present work provides an assessment of offshore deepwater drilling risk assessment and a basis to make timely and precise safety critical decisions. This issue also arises in the offshore drilling industry. To fully comprehend the amount of materials that go into constructing this underwater structure, consider that they operate at depths of 1,500 feet (457 meters) or less -- that's just a little taller than Chicago's Sears Tower. Sometimes, water or gas is pumped into the reservoir, increasing the reservoir pressure and allowing petroleum to flow again. Drilling itself happens in phases, with a length of the well drilled and then lined with metallic casing. Three key techniques have been found to contribute to the total success of deepwater conductor cementing: Proper drilling fluids and application: In typical deepwater drilling processes, gelled seawater is used to circulate drill cuttings out of the wellbore. In many cases, quarters are on par with those found on major cruise ships -- featuring private rooms, satellite TV and even gym, sauna and recreation facilities.
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